Latest news with #KennyLaynez
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Yahoo
U.S. citizen told "you have no rights" during immigration arrest speaks out
Video of an 18-year-old U.S. citizen being violently arrested in Florida by immigration agents back in May has drawn heavy scrutiny, with advocates saying the expansion of state and local law enforcement's role in illegal immigrant crackdowns contributed to the incident. Border Patrol and the Florida Highway Patrol were conducting immigration enforcement on May 2 when they detained Kenny Laynez, a high school senior who was on his way to work as a landscaper with two other co-workers and his mother, who was driving. Video Laynez recorded of the arrest shows an officer telling him, a U.S. citizen who was born and raised in the country, "You got no rights here. You're an amigo, brother." "It hurts me, hearing them saying that I have no rights here because I look like, um, you know, Hispanic, I'm Hispanic," Laynez told CBS News. The car was pulled over for having too many people sitting in the front seat. Two passengers were undocumented, according to Laynez, and officers are seen on the video using a Taser. The teens' two co-workers were both detained, and Laynez says he has been unable to contact them. "We're not resisting. We're not committing any crime to, you know, run away," Laynez said, recalling the arrest. Laynez's phone continued recording after he was detained, capturing an exchange in which an officer tells another, "They're starting to resist more. We're gonna end up shooting some of them." Another officer replies, "Just remember, you can smell that too with a $30,000 bonus." Florida Highway Patrol did not comment. U.S. Customs and Border Protection told CBS News in a statement that the individuals "resisted arrest" and said immigration agents are facing a surge in assaults while doing their job. The statement made no mention that a U.S. citizen had been detained. The video comes as Florida is set to deputize more than 1,800 additional law enforcement officers to conduct immigration operations as part of a statewide crackdown. "Laws are just, you know, they're no longer being respected. They're no longer being upheld," said Mariana Blanco, director at the Guatemala Maya Center, an advocacy group that opposes Florida's new crackdown. "Deputizing these agents so quickly, it is going to bring severe consequences." John Oliver: The 60 Minutes Interview Finding the plane used for Argentina's dictatorship-era "death flights" | 60 Minutes Immigration agent told 18-year-old U.S. citizen "you got no rights here" during arrest
Global News
29-07-2025
- Global News
18-year-old detained by ICE told he had no rights, despite U.S. citizenship
A high school senior who was detained by ICE in Florida in May while his mother was driving him and two of his teenage colleagues to work is speaking out about the violent altercation in which he was told — despite being an American citizen — that he had no rights. Footage of 18-year-old Kenny Laynez's violent arrest, reportedly captured on his cellphone, shows an officer telling him, 'You got no rights here. You're an amigo, brother.' Laynez was born and raised in the United States. Speaking to CBS News, he said, 'It hurts me, hearing them saying that I have no rights here because I look like, um, you know, Hispanic, I'm Hispanic.' View image in full screen Kenny Laynez recalls being detained by ICE in May while driving to his landscaping job in Florida. According to Laynez, the car was pulled over because there were too many passengers riding in the front seat, and two passengers, his co-workers, were undocumented, he said. Story continues below advertisement Footage shows officers using a Taser while detaining the teens, both of whom Laynez says he has not been able to contact since. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We're not resisting. We're not committing any crime to, you know, run away,' Laynez said, recalling the incident. The high schooler's phone kept recording after he had been arrested and picked up a conversation between officers where they were discussing shooting the detainees. 'They're starting to resist more. We're gonna end up shooting some of them,' one officer says to another. 'Just remember, you can smell that too with a $30,000 bonus,' another officer responded. U.S. Customs and Border Protection told CBS in a statement that Laynez and his co-workers 'resisted arrest' and claimed that immigration agents are experiencing a rise in assaults on the job. The statement did not mention that a U.S. citizen had been detained, the outlet added. Laynez recalled events as Florida prepares to deploy 1,800 more law enforcement officers to execute immigration raids ordered by the Trump administration. View image in full screen Masked federal agents who wait outside the immigration court at the Jacob K. Javits building (26 Federal Plaza) in Lower Manhattan, detain a man after he left an immigration hearing on July 23, 2025, in New York City, United States. Selcuk Acar / Getty Images Mariana Blanco, the director at the Guatemalan Maya Center, an advocacy group opposing Florida's pursuit of immigrants, told CBS that, 'laws are just… they're no longer being respected. They're no longer being upheld.' Story continues below advertisement 'Deputizing these agents so quickly it is going to bring severe consequences,' she added. Laynez is just one of a handful of young people to be arrested by ICE, seemingly without cause. In June, students and staff at a high school in Massachusetts staged a post-graduation protest after U.S. immigration authorities detained a pupil who was scheduled to perform with the school's band during the ceremony. Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, 18, was driving his father's car to volleyball practice the day before the ceremony with some of his teammates when he was pulled over by immigration authorities. Officers said they were looking for Gomes Da Silva's father, who, according to Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, is residing illegally in the U.S. Story continues below advertisement During the stop, authorities determined that Gomes Da Silva was also unlawfully in the country and detained him. According to his friends, Gomes Da Silva was born in Brazil but has attended Milford Public Schools in the Boston area since the age of six. The teen's arrest coincided with the final day of a far-reaching, month-long illegal immigration clampdown in Massachusetts, coined Operation Patriot, that saw nearly 1,500 people deemed 'criminal aliens' detained. Gomes Da Silva returned home after several days in ICE detainment after a judge released him on a $2,000 bond.
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Yahoo
U.S. citizen told "you have no rights" during immigration arrest speaks out
Video of an 18-year-old U.S. citizen being violently arrested in Florida by immigration agents back in May has drawn heavy scrutiny, with advocates saying the expansion of state and local law enforcement's role in illegal immigrant crackdowns contributed to the incident. Border Patrol and the Florida Highway Patrol were conducting immigration enforcement on May 2 when they detained Kenny Laynez, a high school senior who was on his way to work as a landscaper with two other co-workers and his mother, who was driving. Video Laynez recorded of the arrest shows an officer telling him, a U.S. citizen who was born and raised in the country, "You got no rights here. You're an amigo, brother." "It hurts me, hearing them saying that I have no rights here because I look like, um, you know, Hispanic, I'm Hispanic," Laynez told CBS News. The car was pulled over for having too many people sitting in the front seat. Two passengers were undocumented, according to Laynez, and officers are seen on the video using a Taser. The teens' two co-workers were both detained, and Laynez says he has been unable to contact them. "We're not resisting. We're not committing any crime to, you know, run away," Laynez said, recalling the arrest. Laynez's phone continued recording after he was detained, capturing an exchange in which an officer tells another, "They're starting to resist more. We're gonna end up shooting some of them." Another officer replies, "Just remember, you can smell that too with a $30,000 bonus." Florida Highway Patrol did not comment. U.S. Customs and Border Protection told CBS News in a statement that the individuals "resisted arrest" and said immigration agents are facing a surge in assaults while doing their job. The statement made no mention that a U.S. citizen had been detained. The video comes as Florida is set to deputize more than 1,800 additional law enforcement officers to conduct immigration operations as part of a statewide crackdown. "Laws are just, you know, they're no longer being respected. They're no longer being upheld," said Mariana Blanco, director at the Guatemala Maya Center, an advocacy group that opposes Florida's new crackdown. "Deputizing these agents so quickly, it is going to bring severe consequences." "The Wizard of Oz" as you've never seen it before John Oliver: The 60 Minutes Interview Finding the plane used for Argentina's dictatorship-era "death flights" | 60 Minutes
CBS News
29-07-2025
- CBS News
U.S. citizen told "you have no rights" during immigration arrest speaks out: "It hurts me"
Video of an 18-year-old U.S. citizen being violently arrested in Florida by immigration agents back in May has drawn heavy scrutiny, with advocates saying the expansion of state and local law enforcement's role in illegal immigrant crackdowns contributed to the incident. Border Patrol and the Florida Highway Patrol were conducting immigration enforcement on May 2 when they detained Kenny Laynez, a high school senior who was on his way to work as a landscaper with two other co-workers and his mother, who was driving. Video Laynez recorded of the arrest shows an officer telling him, a U.S. citizen who was born and raised in the country, "You got no rights here. You're an amigo, brother." "It hurts me, hearing them saying that I have no rights here because I look like, um, you know, Hispanic, I'm Hispanic," Laynez told CBS News. The car was pulled over for having too many people sitting in the front seat. Two passengers were undocumented, according to Laynez, and officers are seen on the video using a Taser. The teens' two co-workers were both detained, and Laynez says he has been unable to contact them. "We're not resisting. We're not committing any crime to, you know, run away," Laynez said, recalling the arrest. Laynez's phone continued recording after he was detained, capturing an exchange in which an officer tells another, "They're starting to resist more. We're gonna end up shooting some of them." Another officer replies, "Just remember, you can smell that too with a $30,000 bonus." Florida Highway Patrol did not comment. U.S. Customs and Border Protection told CBS News in a statement that the individuals "resisted arrest" and said immigration agents are facing a surge in assaults while doing their job. The statement made no mention that a U.S. citizen had been detained. The video comes as Florida is set to deputize more than 1,800 additional law enforcement officers to conduct immigration operations as part of a statewide crackdown. "Laws are just, you know, they're no longer being respected. They're no longer being upheld," said Mariana Blanco, director at the Guatemala Maya Center, an advocacy group that opposes Florida's new crackdown. "Deputizing these agents so quickly, it is going to bring severe consequences."
Yahoo
28-07-2025
- Yahoo
He lived an immigrant's nightmare. One problem: He's a citizen, got his arrest on video
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Florida ‒ Kenny Laynez's cellphone camera captured every undocumented immigrant's nightmare on video when he was arrested. One problem: He is a U.S. citizen. The video, shot May 2, showed Florida Highway Patrol officers and Border Patrol agents stopping the 18-year-old landscaper and his three coworkers ‒ one of them his mother ‒ as they drove past luxury buildings to a job. The camera captured officers dragging his coworkers out of their van by their necks and twisting Laynez's arms and pushing him face down to the pavement. The video also recorded an officer shooting one of Laynez's coworkers with a Taser, saying he had resisted arrest. 'I have rights. I was born and raised here," Laynez told the officers, according to a copy of the video shared by the Guatemalan-Maya Center of Lake Worth Beach. "You don't have any rights here. You are a 'Migo,' brother,' the officer said, referring to his ethnicity. He hurried the 18-year-old into a van. Laynez was released from a Riviera Beach federal facility six hours later, with the video still on his cellphone. His coworkers, including the one who was tased, were undocumented and weren't as fortunate. They were transferred to the Krome Detention Center in Miami. Laynez said they are free on bail but fear they will be arrested if they show up in court. Deportations accelerate: Shock and anger: Florida immigrant communities react to 'Operation Tidal Wave' The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Network, recently interviewed Laynez and made multiple attempts to contact FHP, ICE and Border Patrol for comment about the incident and the body-camera footage, as well as multiple requests for copies of the arrest reports. None of them responded. Laynez said he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction without violence simply to get the incident over with. He entered a pretrial diversion program on June 4. The state will drop the charges July 30 if he completes the program by then. "They treated us like dogs they picked up in the street," Layzez said. "They are just pulling over people and kidnapping people who are hard-working." "We are not criminals. We were just heading to work." Trump at 'Alligator Alcatraz': Facts on Florida Everglades immigration detention center ICE arrests spread fear among immigrants Videos like Laynez's showing federal agents arresting day laborers have left immigrant families across Palm Beach County and the rest of the country in fear. Even families in which some members are documented have laid low, sometimes not going to school or church. West Palm Beach attorney Jack Scarola has reviewed Laynez's footage and has talked with him about the incident. He said the footage shows how FHP and Border Patrol agents are under "extreme pressure" to meet daily arrest and deportation quotas and that the response has led to a "reckless disregard" of the rights of both undocumented and legal immigrants and even the rights of U.S. citizens. 'All of us should be not only offended, but outraged by that misconduct,' Scarola said. 'And if we fail to appropriately respond to that outrageous disregard of the civil rights of others, all of our civil rights are in serious jeopardy.' Stopped while heading to work Kenny Laynez was born in 2005 at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach to a Guatemalan single mother who is in the U.S. legally but is not a citizen. He attended Palm Beach Lakes High School and got a job at the landscaping company where his mother drove crews to work sites. Neither Laynez nor his mother works for the company any longer. Laynez said he and his mother met two coworkers on May 2 at a gas station and drove to a landscaping job near North Palm Beach. The coworkers, Esdras and Marroquin, are undocumented but neither had criminal records, Laynez said. The Post is withholding their last names to protect their families. Although his mother wasn't speeding, just after they crossed the bridge on Singer Island, they heard a police siren. An officer rolled down a tinted window and signaled to her to pull over. The officer asked where they were headed. Laynez said they were going to work and the officer took his mother's license and the truck's registration and insurance. The officer returned and said his mother's license was suspended, to all their surprise. Laynez said he asked the officer why he pulled them over. He didn't see how the officer could have known his mother's license was suspended by running the company truck's license plate. Laynez said the officer asked if they were "illegal." Laynez said they were not and asked what that had to do with the license. A van pulled up and more armed agents swarmed the truck. A female officer approached his window and ordered them in Spanish to shut off their phones. Laynez said that at that moment, he started recording with his phone instead: "I assumed something was going to happen.' The video of the raid What he captured on video begins with a question. "Who in here is illegal?' The officer asked in Spanish. "Whoever takes longer to answer will get more charges and spend more time in jail.' Esdras, who is seen clenching a towel in his hands, raised his hand. The male agent ordered them to open the door. Laynez grabbed onto the handle. 'Wait, hold up,' Laynez said. 'You don't have the right to do that.' 'I don't have a right?' the officer said with a laugh. He reached inside the car and popped the door open. The video shows an agent grabbing Marroquin by the hair and placing his neck in the crook of his arm. Another agent pulled Esdras, called Kevin by his coworkers, by the leg and tightened his hands around his neck. The video then shows Laynez stepping out of the car, but an officer who had ordered him to get on the ground pushes him from behind, twisting his arms and kneeling him to the pavement. Esdras stood rigidly as three officers tried to force him to the ground. They told him in English to lie down, while Laynez urged him in Spanish not to resist. 'Aye! What are you doing? That is not how you arrest people,' Laynez said. The video shows an officer pulling out a yellow Taser and firing twice into Esdras' stomach. Laynez saw his body and legs spasm before he slammed onto the pavement, crying. An agent pressed his knee on Laynez's back and forced him face down to the pavement. An officer later ordered Laynez to stand up, but he said he was too scared to move. 'I am not going to get up because you are going to do to me whatever you were doing to Esdras,' Laynez said. 'That is not how you arrest people." 'Be quiet,' an officer said, cutting him off and picking him up. 'I've got the right to talk,' Laynez said. 'I was born and raised here.' 'You have no rights here. You are a 'Migo,' brother," the officer said in a comment Laynez said sounded like racial profiling. Laynez's mother can be heard crying in the background. Video records officers laughing at immigration arrest Laynez's phone continued recording on the sidewalk and captured a conversation between the agents over the next four minutes. 'Once she got the proper spread on him, he was done,' the officer said. "You're funny, bro.' 'It was funny,' an agent said, laughing. 'It was,' another chimed in with laughter. Another agent said more people are resisting their immigration arrests. "They are starting to resist now," an agent said. "We're going to end up shooting someone." On the video, an agent recounted how Laynez said they didn't have the right to come in the door and says: 'I already told you to come out. If you don't come out, I'll pull you out.' 'God damn. Wow,' the officer cheered. 'Nice!' 'Just remember you can smell too with a $30,000 bonus,' another officer chimes in. It was not immediately clear to what bonus the officer referred. On the tape, an officer is heard saying that Laynez's coworker was resisting arrest, so he should be charged. 'He was being a d*** right now. That is why we tased,' an agent said. The phone recording stopped shortly after that exchange, its memory out of storage. The agents confirmed Laynez's mother had legal status and issued her a ticket for driving with a suspended license. Laynez said she told them he was a U.S. citizen and showed them a picture of his Social Security card. They still took Laynez into custody. Laynez said that before leaving, the officers held his mother's driver's license to her face and tore it in half. U.S. citizen spent six hours in detention facility: What he saw Once at the Riviera Beach facility, Laynez said he saw rows of men. Most spoke Spanish and wore construction clothes like his own. Two looked like they were his age, 17 or 18. Laynez said he appeared to be the only one inside the packed room who spoke English. He said the men told them they had been detained for hours without water or food. Laynez wanted to use the bathroom, but the only toilet available was out in the open, without any doors or covers. After almost four hours, the female officer who detained them took Laynez to a room and asked for his date of birth three times, even though he had already written it down for another officer. Finally, she came out with a ziplocked bag with his phone, wallet and headphones. In Spanish, she asked him to unlock it. Laynez said she told him she needed to see if he had filmed videos of the arrest. Laynez said he unlocked his phone, closed all his apps and locked it again. He said he declined to open it and set it down on the table. He said she told him they would wait in that room until he opened it. She asked again for his date of birth. Laynez said he trembled. That was his password. Laynez said the officer threatened to press charges if he didn't unlock his phone, but then a person who appeared to be a supervisor interrupted them. Laynez said the supervisor said Laynez wasn't supposed to be in that room because he is a U.S. citizen. The supervisor took Laynez's fingerprints and said it was only to leave a record that he had been in the facility. Then he told Laynez he couldn't leave without signing some paperwork and that he would have to show up in court. "What did I do?' Laynez said he asked while signing. "I didn't do anything. Why do I have to present myself in court?' The arrest report said Laynez was being charged with nonviolent police obstruction. In a copy of the report that Laynez provided to The Palm Beach Post, officers wrote that Esdras had resisted his arrest. Laynez is not mentioned. After six hours, Laynez said he walked out the door of the Riviera Beach building and ordered an Uber home. He had almost 100 missed calls from his mother. Laynez said the footage of the arrests haunts him, but he doesn't regret filming. "I would basically have nothing, no evidence,' Laynez said. 'And no one would believe what happened or how they escalated the situation. "There might be even more happening that is not being recorded." Email Valentina Palm at vpalm@ and follow her on X at @ValenPalmB. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: ICE raids Florida: Citizen lived immigrant nightmare of being arrested
